


Late Nights

by AcrylicMist



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Boys In Love, Fluff, Gentleness, Kissing, M/M, Sexual Content, That sweet sweet fluff, Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-07-31 14:41:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20116750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AcrylicMist/pseuds/AcrylicMist
Summary: Dave gets woken up by a lonely Karkat. Sweet, sweet fluff ensues.





	Late Nights

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a simple writer. I get stuck on a plot point in another fic, I write vent-fluff to validate myself as a writer. Simple.

Dave still had a hair-trigger fine sense for things that moved around him while asleep, so of course he woke up the instant Karkat entered his bedroom. A lifetime of nightmares and a childhood filled with surprise attack puppets had made certain that Dave was a light sleeper. 

The troll crept silently into the dark room, and Dave almost sat upright to ask what Karkat was doing. They’d lived together for years, but this was new. This quiet creeping was something Dave had never encountered from Karkat before. Normally the troll knocked if he wanted to come inside while Dave was asleep. 

Dave didn’t move, feinting sleep as Karkat fumbled across the floor towards him. He hesitated at the edge of the bed, then slid into bed next to Dave without a word, making himself comfortable against Dave’s back. 

This was new, and different, but it wasn’t any different from cuddling up together on the sofa or the few times they’d shared a bed. Karkat had probably had a night terror or something. That made sense, and it might have been one of the few things that would drive the troll to seek out comfort in the middle of the night. 

The troll was warm, his heated skin providing the perfect amount of heat for Dave to sleep with as the troll bundled the blankets around himself as gently as possible, obviously trying not to wake him. 

It was too late for that. Dave has been wide awake since the second Karkat’s hand had touched the closed door, and right now he felt more awake than he’d ever been. 

Karkat, damn him, knew Dave far too well to even think that Dave was still asleep after all that movement. “Did I wake you?” The troll asked, his rough voice lowered in a scratchy whisper. 

Dave turned around to face Karkat. “Yeah,” he answered, equally as soft. His eyes were bare, his shades safely on the bedside table, but in the darkness he felt safe enough to not immediately reach for his shades.

“I’m sorry,” Karkat said. 

“Don’t be,” Dave said back. “It happens.”

“I wish it didn’t have to,” Karkat admitted into the silence that stretched between them. “I wish our sleep cycles clicked more easily, and I wish you could stay asleep easier. I feel like every time I breathe I wake you up again.”

In the beginning that had been true, but Dave had slowly desensitized to the small movements and noises the troll made while asleep. He’d acclimated, not jerking awake with a sword in his hand every time Karkat rolled over. Now his eyes would open, and then close again because he knew he was safe, that it was only Karkat beside him, that everything was warm and soft and safe and that he didn’t need to react badly to waking up anymore. 

And maybe with Karkat staying over more often Dave might continue to acclimate to his presence. 

“I’m trying,” Dave told him, and Karkat’s eyes gleamed in the darkness. “I’m still getting used to it I guess. To you.” His eyes were drooping again, already being lulled back to sleep by the troll’s presence. 

Karkat settled down beside him, still facing him as he rested his head on the pillows, staring at Dave’s face. 

“Is this okay?” The troll fretted. “Waking you… joining you?”

In the darkness Dave couldn’t make out the red of Karkat’s eyes, though he knew the troll could pick out the color of his own easily. Night vision made everything unfairly sloped in the troll’s direction, a thought that was only reinforced when Karkat reached out and lightly tapped a scar across Dave’s chest that should have been invisible in the shadows. 

The unexpected touch made Dave’s heartrate skyrocket. “What are you thinking?” Dave asked as Karkat’s fingers splayed against his bare chest. Dave could feel his heart beating under the troll’s palm. 

“I just wish I could help more,” Karkat admitted, his voice creaking. “Every day I know there’s things I do wrong by you.”

“Karkat—“

“And you’ve been so good to me Dave, it’s unfair that this Game existed to make our existences into piles of steaming shit that were then shat out the back of whichever ugly truculent elder god in the Furthest Ring had the worst diarrhea at the time of our ectobiological conception, and—”

“Karkat, stop,” Dave said, trying not to laugh as he got serious. “I’m getting better, I am.”

“I know,” Karkat’s hand moved across his chest, tracing light patterns. 

Dave help his breath. It was surprisingly vulnerable to sleep without a shirt covering him, but the bonus was this— feeling Karkat’s hands ghost across his bare skin. 

He moved closer, Karkat’s hand caught between them as Dave traced his fingertips across the troll’s face. 

Karkat leaned into Dave’s palm as Dave stroked his cheek, purring. This wasn’t anything they hadn’t done before, but somehow being in a bed made everything more intimate. Dave’s skin broke out in gooseflesh as Karkat traced his fingers across his chest. 

“Trust me,” Dave forced out, his voice hoarse. “You are helping me get better in ways I can’t explain.”

“Like how?” Karkat challenged, his purr cutting off to morph into speech. 

“Just like this,” Dave explained, and he hugged Karkat to him. He could feel the compact, muscular frame of the troll beneath the sweater he was wearing, a reminder of the time Karkat had kept as much of his skin covered as possible. Now it wasn’t uncommon to catch him in short sleeves or a T-shirt, and Dave hid a grin, knowing that just like him— Karkat was healing. “Being close to me, it helps.”

The room was still and quiet, the only sound the gentle purr that rose in Karkat’s chest as Dave continued to touch his face. Everything was slow and warm as Dave slowly relaxed again, more than comfortable with Karkat in his bed. He could get used to this.

“What made you try to sneak into my room tonight?” Dave asked curiously. 

Karkat looked up, meeting his eyes. “I didn’t want to be alone.”

“Oh,” Dave said, secretly touched. He stroked his thumb along Karkat’s cheek, loving how the troll leaned into his touch. “Well, you know I’m always here for you, right?”

Karkat pressed himself closer, scooting over so that there was no space left between them, the blanket shoved aside. 

Dave kissed him. It was too hard to resist the temptation when Karkat’s lips were so close to his own. It was a light kiss, sweet and chaste, until Karkat sighed into his mouth and deepened it, his lips moving with Dave’s. 

Dave tilted his head to get the angle right, an easy, warm glow filling him as he kissed Karkat slow and lazy, taking his time. He was still new at this kissing thing but it felt effortless. Karkat’s lips were warm and enthusiastic against his own. 

“You are unfairly good at this,” Karkat muttered, breaking free to speak and breathe before moving back in. 

Dave fought back a laugh. “That’s because Strider lips are the best in the land. Bitches be lining up for miles for just a glimpse of these plush puppies. My kiss has been known to wake the dead before, even, like for serious.”

“Lucky me, then,” Karkat murmured softly, his voice scratchy. “Because I get to kiss you all I want.”

Dave grinned as he obeyed the gentle tug Karkat gave him and bent back over to kiss the troll again, feeling the sharp points of fangs Karkat would never hurt him with. 

“You know, death as a prerequisite for kissing kinda sucks balls,” Dave said, trying not to yawn as a wave of renewed tiredness washed over him. He felt content in the way he only was with Karkat, and it was late.  
“The game was fucked,” Karkat agreed, and then he yawned which meant Dave yawned, which meant no kissing for a short span of seconds that felt like an eternity to Dave. 

“Oh, it wasn’t all fucked,” Dave said, patting the top of the mattress as Karkat scoffed. “It brought me you.”

Karkat froze at the sappy complement, then shifted closer, his lips seeking out Dave’s mouth with perfect aim in the semi-darkness. 

Dave returned the favor. He’d never tire of kissing Karkat. Touching the troll was his favorite pastime, normally just a brush of the fingers against gray skin as he moved about the house they shared, a hand on his shoulder, but here in the quiet and dark of his room he was free to run his lips across the troll’s jawline, peppering kisses there. It had taken a few weeks for Dave to build up the bravery to kiss Karkat like this, and about the same amount of time for the troll to not flinch and pull back, to tuck his chin up instinctively to protect his throat.

That was what Dave loved the most—that trust. The fact that he didn’t need to second guess himself when he was with Karkat. He knew where he stood and he liked where they were. 

But then he shifted closer to Karkat at the exact same time that Karkat rolled closer to him and they met in the middle. Dave let out a grunt of surprise at the sudden feeling of the length of Karkat’s body pressed against him. Their thighs were touching, and Dave decided that he liked this new position even as he flushed beet red in embarrassment. Even so, he made to move away, to give Karkat some space. 

Karkat didn’t let him. His hand came up and lightly cupped Dave’s cheek. His eyes were smoldering. 

Dave suddenly felt every inch of skin that was touching the troll. Heat flashed through him, electrifying the air between them. 

Karkat was still holding Dave’s face. His eyes were looking at Dave like he was asking a question, and before Dave could convince himself otherwise he reached up, grabbed the troll’s face, and kissed him as deeply as he could. 

Karkat gasped into his mouth, his lips searing as he eagerly kissed Dave back. Spurred on by the success, Dave kept kissing him as Karkat’s hands roved over his bare chest. 

This felt like toeing the line of going too far, but somehow Dave ended up with Karkat’s leg between his own and the feeling of it there made his heart pound. 

And Karkat didn’t move away. The troll was pressing hot kisses against Dave’s jaw as his hands clutched at Dave’s bare shoulders, and it was overwhelming. 

“Karkat, wait,” Dave forced out, his voice roughened. 

Karkat froze immediately and seemed to realize how he’d worked his way in between Dave’s legs and jumped backwards, his gray face flushing with embarrassment. “Sorry,” he apologized, his voice equally rough in the darkness. “We both went too far, didn’t we?”

Dave swallowed thickly, forcing himself to think clearly with all of his blood still rushing south. The attempt at rationality failed, because the next words out of his mouth were “I liked it.”

Karkat fell still. “Really?”

“Yeah.”

Dave watched as Karkat licked his lips, his expression torn. 

“Did you like it?” Dave asked curiously. 

Karkat shrugged, not looking at Dave as he admitted. “I did.”

“Me too,” Dave said, and he wanted that closeness again, the feeling of Karkat’s body against him. 

Karkat must have been thinking the exact same thing because he said, “then why did we stop?”

Good fucking question. Dave shrugged, mirroring Karkat’s earlier motion. “We’ve never... done things. Like that,” he said lamely. “I wanted to ask you first to make sure it was okay.”

Karkat didn’t laugh. Dave would have, just to defuse the sudden tension in the air. 

“Do you think we’re ready for that?” Karkat asked slowly, his claws working holes into Dave’s comforter with stress. 

“What? The full-sex? God, no,” Dave said, meaning it. But he watched as Karkat’s shoulders slumped just the tiniest bit at his words, and he rephrased his statement, still speaking from the heart. “But I’m not opposed to getting to know you a little better.”

Karkat snorted, his eyes narrowing. “You already know everything about me,” he said. 

“I don’t know what you look like shirtless,” Dave said teasingly, striking a pose on the mattress. “I’m the only one minus a shirt in this equation, baring my godly bod to your henceforth blessed eyes.”

Karkat rolled said eyes, but his expression was still serious. “What do you want me to do?” He asked, his voice still deliciously creaky.

It was such a change from his usual loudness that it threw Dave for a loop for an instant, before he made up his mind with a sudden strike of inspiration. “I want you to kiss me again.”

Karkat eagerly complied, moving closer again as he melted into Dave. 

It was bliss for a few minutes, nothing but the soft sounds that their lips made together and the feeling of skin on skin as Dave carefully played with the hem of Karkat’s shirt. “Take this off?” He dared to ask, his heart in his throat.

Karkat hesitated, wrestling with himself before in one smooth movement he pulled the shirt off over his head.

Dave’s first thought was to not make a big deal out of this. He didn’t want to ruin the moment and spoil the bravery it must have just taken Karkat to remove his shirt for the first time. His next thought was slight disappointment because in the dark of his bedroom he really couldn’t see anything other than the troll’s vague outline, and that’s probably why Karkat had felt comfortable enough to do this in the first place. Curse Dave’s human lack of night-vision.

He might not have been able to see, but Dave could still feel as he reached up with one hand to gently lay his hand over Karkat’s heart. He could feel it racing beneath his spread palm. He could feel Karkat’s anticipation like a knife.

“Dude,” Dave said at last. “I can’t see shit.”

Karkat burst out laughing.

“Really,” Dave said, egging him on. “You could be tatted up like the meanest sailor ever, all pics of scantily clad blonde lasses holding kegs of rum and I’d be none the wiser.”

Karkat managed to swallow his mirth. “Do you want me to turn the lamp on?”

The nervousness in the troll’s voice made up Dave’s mind. “No.”

“No?”

“No,” Dave said, hugging the troll to him. He could feel every bare inch of Karkat’s skin, the flex and pull of muscles, a hard bony edge that must have been his ribcage as he shifted in place until they fit perfectly together. “I think I’m fine just like this.” He rested his head in the junction between Karkat’s neck and shoulder, snuggling in for the rest of the night. 

“Are you sure?” Karkat asked quietly. “I’ve made up my mind. I’m okay with you seeing.”

The words warmed Dave like nothing else, but he stood his ground. “It’s okay,” he said. “I knew it took a lot of trust for you to take off your shirt for me. I’m okay with taking things slow still. We don’t need to rush.” Dave made a show of getting comfy beside Karkat, and the troll’s arms fell around him, holding him in place as Dave pressed a deep kiss against the troll’s neck. 

“Dave,” Karkat said, his voice choked. “Thank you.”

Dave’s throat felt tight. “It’s okay,” he said, closing his eyes. He yawed again, sleep overtaking him. “Besides,” he mentioned lightly. “It’s not like I won’t see you in the morning once the sun comes up.”

He chuckled as he felt Karkat stiffen next to him, and Dave kept kissing the troll until he relaxed again.

“You motherfucker,” Karkat complained, but he made no move to cover himself. 

Dave counted that as a victory. “Good night Karkat. I’ll see you in the morning.”

He could physically feel Karkat roll his eyes at the double meaning, but the troll was purring again as he settled into place. “Goodnight Dave.”

Dave felt drowsiness about to pull him under and fought it off for just another second. Everything was coming in flashed through his exhaustion. “Hey, Karkat?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you, man. You know that, right?”

The words came without hesitation. “I know.” A purr, a hand tracing patterns into his skin as sleep won the battle. The last thing Dave was aware of was Karkat’s voice saying the words, “I love you too.”

That night, Dave’s dreams were good dreams. No nightmare dared to touch him while Karkat was there, and Dave slept soundly as outside the stars made their way across the sky.

**Author's Note:**

> Sometimes we all just need sweet, sweet fluff and validation and I love you's. It doesn't all have to be pain and angst. There's power in the gentle moments too.


End file.
